Dynamic optical switching in a telecommunications network

ABSTRACT

Implementations described and claimed herein provide systems and methods for a configurable optical peering fabric to dynamically create a connection between participant sites without any physical site limitations or necessity of specialized client and network provider equipment being located within such a facility. Client sites to a network may connect to a configurable switching element to be interconnected to other client sites in response to a request to connect the first client site with a second site, also connected to network, via the switching element. A request may trigger verification of the requested and, upon validation, transmission of an instruction to the switching element to enable the cross connect within the switching element. The first site and the second site may thus be interconnected via the switching element in response to the request, without the need to co-locate equipment or to manually install a jumper between client equipment.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems andmethods for implementing a telecommunications or data network, and morespecifically for dynamically interconnecting wavelengths or otheroptical signals among participants between one or more sites connectedto a configurable switching element.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication networks provide, among other functions, connectionsvia a backbone network between clients of the network and variouspossible other networks. For example, a telecommunication network mayprovide one or more clients with access, via the network, to a cloudcomputing network where the client can obtain some service from thecloud computing network, such as compute, network, and storage servicesprovided by a cloud service provider. Conventionally, providing theaccess includes the telecommunications network configuring across-connect between the client network and the cloud computing networkin a co-location center. However, such co-location centers are oftenoperated by and maintained by a third party that is different than thecarrier network and/or the cloud computing network. Thus, establishingthe cross-connect between the client network and the cloud provider (orother service-providing network) may include contacting an operator ofthe co-location center to configure the cross connect, which oftenincludes a manual operation to install some form of connection, often ajumper, between the carrier network equipment and the cloud providerequipment installed at the co-location center. To facilitate theinterconnection, each of the carrier network and the cloud providernetwork have to co-locate telecommunication equipment in the co-locationcenter, increasing the cost overhead for utilizing the co-locationcenter for interconnecting the networks. This manual process ofinterconnecting the networks and locating network specific equipment atthe co-location center may include significant costs to the carriernetwork, client network, and/or the cloud service provider network.

It is with these observations in mind, among others, that aspects of thepresent disclosure were conceived.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of asystem for managing a network. The system may include an opticalswitching element of a data network, the optical switching elementconfigured to dynamically connect, in response to an activation signal,the signals or wavelengths of a first interface of the optical switchingelement to the signals or wavelengths of a second interface of theoptical switching element, the first interface connected to a first sitevia a first optical fiber connection and the second interface connectedto a second site via a second optical fiber connection. The opticalswitching element may be configured to receive a signal to create across connection, the signal from an orchestrator in communication withthe optical switching element, the orchestrator transmitting theactivation signal to the optical switching element in response to aconnection request. Further, responsive to receipt of the activationsignal, the optical switching element may cross connect the first sitewith the second site.

In some instances, the first site may be associated with a cloudcomputing provider network and the second site may be associated with acarrier network. In other instances, the first site may be associatedwith a first carrier network and the second site may be associated witha second carrier network or the first site may be associated with afirst cloud computing provider network and the second site may beassociated with a second cloud computing provider network. Further, theorchestrator may receive the connection request from a computing deviceassociated the carrier network, the connection request comprising anidentification of the second site connected to the second interface.

In still other implementations, the first site comprises fiberterminating equipment, a first optical fiber cable connecting the fiberterminating equipment of the first site and the optical switchingelement and second site comprises fiber terminating equipment, a secondoptical fiber cable connecting the fiber terminating equipment of thesecond site and the optical switching element. The distance of the firstoptical fiber cable and the second optical fiber cable is less than amaximum distance length of optical fiber based on an acceptabletransmission line loss of the optical fiber and neither the cloudcomputing provider network nor the carrier network installs networkingequipment in the data network to terminate the first optical fiber cableor the second optical fiber cable. Also, in one implementation theoptical switching element is a reconfigurable optical add-dropmultiplexer network device.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of amethod for managing a network. The method may include the operations ofauthenticating, at a network orchestrator, a request for a connection ofa first participant network site with a second participant network site,the request comprising an identification of a first network associatedwith the first participant network site, an identification of the secondparticipant network site, and an identification of an optical switchingelement for the connection and receiving an authorization, at thenetwork orchestrator and from a computing device associated with thesecond participant network site, for executing the requested connection.The method may further include the operation of transmitting anactivation instruction to the optical switching element to opticallyconnect a first interface of the optical switching element connected tothe first participant network site to a second interface of the opticalswitching element connected to the second participant network site.

In some instances, the request for the connection is received at thenetwork orchestrator from a computing device associated with the firstparticipant network site. The request may be received via a portal orvia an application programming interface. Further, the method may alsoinclude the operations of receiving, from the optical switching element,a notification of the connection of the first interface to the secondinterface and transmitting the notification to the computing deviceassociated with the first participant network site.

In still other implementations, the first participant network site isconnected to the first interface of the optical switching element via afirst dark fiber connection and the second participant network site isconnected to the second interface of the optical switching element via asecond dark fiber connection. Authenticating the request for aconnection may comprise verifying the connection of the firstparticipant network site to the first interface of the optical switchingelement and the connection of the second participant network site to thesecond interface of the optical switching element.

Yet another implementation of the present disclosure may include a datanetwork comprising an optical switching device connected to a pluralityof participant sites via a plurality of fiber bundle connections,wherein each participant site is within a network area defined by atransmission line loss value of an optical fiber conductor connectingthe optical switching device to a participant site. The network area maybe further defined by a bandwidth value for transmission of data fromthe optical switching device and the transmission line loss value maycomprise an upper bound, based on the bandwidth value for thetransmission of data, of line loss and a lower bound, based on thebandwidth value for the transmission of data, of line loss.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may include a systemfor managing a network. The system may include a computing deviceassociated with a first participant network site connected to a networkand a master orchestrator receiving, from the computing device, arequest for a connection of the first participant network site with asecond participant network site, the master orchestrator to authenticateone or more portions of the request for the connection, transmit, to acomputing device associated with the second participant network site andbased on the authenticated one or more portions of the request, anauthorization request, and receive, from the computing device associatedwith the second participant network site, an authorization for executingthe request for the connection. The system may also include a domainorchestrator receiving, from the master orchestrator, an activationinstruction in response to the authorization, the domain orchestratorconfiguring an optical switching element to optically connect a firstinterface of the optical switching element connected to the firstparticipant network site to a second interface of the optical switchingelement connected to the second participant network site.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may include a methodfor managing a network that includes the operations receiving, from acomputing device associated with a first participant network siteconnected to a network, a request for a connection of the firstparticipant network site with a second participant network site,authenticating one or more portions of the request for the connection,and transmitting, to a computing device associated with the secondparticipant network site and based on the authenticated one or moreportions of the request, an authorization request. The method may alsoinclude receiving, from the computing device associated with the secondparticipant network site, an authorization for executing the request forthe connection and transmitting, to a domain orchestrator and inresponse to the authorization, an activation instruction, the domainorchestrator configuring an optical switching element to opticallyconnect a first interface of the optical switching element connected tothe first participant network site to a second interface of the opticalswitching element connected to the second participant network site.Another implementation may include a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium, storing a computer program, wherein the computerprogram, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to performone or more of the operations described above.

While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of thepresent disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description, which shows and describesillustrative embodiments of the disclosure. As will be realized, theinvention is capable of modifications in various aspects, all withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the presentdisclosure set forth herein should be apparent from the followingdescription of particular embodiments of those inventive concepts, asillustrated in the accompanying drawings. The drawings depict onlytypical embodiments of the present disclosure and, therefore, are not tobe considered limiting in scope.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art network operatingenvironment for optically interconnecting two or more sites.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network operatingenvironment for dynamically interconnecting two or more sites utilizingan optical peering fabric switching device in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system for controllingdynamic interconnection between two or more sites utilizing an opticalpeering fabric switching device in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for configuring an optical switchingelement of a network in response to request to interconnect twoparticipant sites connected to the network in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network area fordynamically interconnecting two or more sites utilizing an opticalpeering fabric switching device in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system whichmay be used in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure include systems, methods, networkingdevices, and the like for a configurable optical peering fabric todynamically create a connection between participant sites without anyphysical site limitations or necessity of specialized client and networkprovider equipment being located within such a facility. The opticalpeering fabric described herein may provide several advantages overconventional co-location cross-connect arrangements includingeliminating the need to co-locate network equipment in a sharedco-location center, eliminating the need for physical (manual) crossconnects, eliminating the need to locate a participant sitegeographically near the co-locate center, and/or eliminating themultiple fees involved with utilizing a co-location center for crossconnecting participant sites. In particular, client sites to a networkmay connect to a network device, such as a configurable switchingelement, to be interconnected to other client sites. A computing deviceof a first client site may provide a request to connect the first clientsite with a second site, also connected to network, via the switchingelement. The second site may be associated with the first client or maybe associated with a second client to the network. A request may triggerverification of the propriety of the requested connection to the secondsite, and, upon validation, transmission of an instruction to theswitching element to enable the cross connect within the switchingelement. The first site and the second site may thus be interconnectedvia the switching element in response to the request, without the needto co-locate equipment or to manually install a jumper between clientequipment. Rather, the connection may be executed remotely via acontroller within the switching element in response to the request. Inaddition, the use of the switching element may remove the need for aco-location facility altogether, the need to provide and maintainequipment in such a co-location center, and eliminate the various feesfor the same.

In one example, the connection may be considered a signal path betweenparticipant sites created by the switching element. For example, afterproper command, the switching element creates a signal path betweenparticipant site A and participant site B, where the signal path mayinvolve a wavelength. The signal path may be operable to communicate anyform of signal (optical, electrical, combinations thereof, etc.) and thecontent represented in such signal may include any form of payload(signaling information, data, etc.).

In one instance, an orchestrator may receive the request to connect afirst network site associated with a first participant network with asecond network site associated with a second participant network via aconfigurable optical switching fabric or element. The orchestrator mayauthenticate the requesting participant and verify the requestingparticipant is authorized to connect the first network site with thesecond network site. In one example, the requesting participant may be acomputing device associated with an administrator of the first networksite to request the connection of the first network site to the secondnetwork site. The orchestrator receiving the request may also providethe request from the first participant to the second participant toverify the requested connection. Upon verification, the orchestrator mayconfigure the optical switching element to activate the requestedconnection between the participant networks or sites. In this example,the configuration of the optical switching element connects the firstnetwork site managed by the first participant to the second network sitemanaged by the second participant. Each participant network site mayinclude a dark fiber connection, which is “lit”, to the switchingelement for transmitting data between the participating network sitesand the switching element. Once connected, the participating networksites may exchange networking and data traffic via the switchingelement.

In this manner, embodiments described herein are generally directed toan optical peering fabric that enables interconnection amongparticipants having one or more participant sites connected to atelecommunications network (e.g., metropolitan market) wherebyinterconnection capacity may be dynamically turned up, turned down andre-routed at fixed bandwidth increments, for example, via software-basedcontrol (e.g., SDN) by each participant. Participants can beadministratively autonomous organizations that have one or moreparticipant sites within each distinct market.

In addition, a service area for providing dynamically-controllableinterconnection for participating sites may be defined based on anacceptable transmission loss for optical fiber connecting theparticipating sites to the switching element of the network. Inparticular, based on a transmission line loss of the connecting fibersand, in some instances, the bandwidth of the connection to the network,a service distance for dynamic connection service may be defined.Participant sites within the service area may connect to the network(and more particularly, the switching element of the network) to receivethe dynamic connection service from the network. The service area mayexpand the available participant sites for receiving the connectionservice while removing the need for participant sites to place equipmentwithin and to communicate with a co-location center. This may improvethe performance of the participating sites while reducing the cost forconnecting the sites with other sites in the service area.

Before discussing the optical switching element, FIG. 1 illustrates aprior art network operating environment 100 for opticallyinterconnecting two or more carrier networks 104,106 and cloud providers108,110 via a co-location center 102. To connect a client, such ascarrier network A client 103, with a cloud provider, carrier network Amay include a site 104 that connects to the co-location center 102through one or more physical connections, such as one or more opticalfiber cables 120. The fiber cable 120 may connect data or networkingequipment at carrier network A 104 site and corresponding data ornetworking equipment 112 at the co-location center 102. Thus, carriernetwork A may locate equipment 112 at the co-location center 102 forcommunication, via the fiber cables 120, with carrier network A site104. Carrier network B may similarly include a site 106 connected tocorresponding carrier network B equipment 114 at the co-location center102 via one or more fiber cables 122 to connect clients 105 of carriernetwork B to one or more cloud service providers. To connect a client ofa carrier network to a cloud provider network, cloud provider networksmay also co-locate data or network equipment at the co-location center102. For example, cloud provider A may include cloud provider Aequipment 116 to connect cloud provider A site 108 via one or more fibercables 124. Cloud provider B may include cloud provider B equipment 118to connect cloud provider B site 110 via one or more fiber cables 126.More or fewer networking sites may also include equipment within theco-location center 102 to interconnect with carrier networks A and Band/or cloud providers A and B.

Within the co-location center 102, the carrier networks and the cloudprovider networks may be interconnected to exchange data communicationsbetween respective network clients 103,105 and the cloud providernetworks. For example, carrier network A equipment 112 may be connectedwith cloud provider B equipment 118 such that communications betweencarrier network A site 104 and cloud provider B site 110 may beexchanged. Through this interconnection, carrier network A may provide atransmission conduit to connect client A site 103 to cloud B providersite 110 such that cloud provider B may provide cloud services tocarrier network A client site 103. To provide the interconnectionbetween carrier network A equipment 112 and the cloud provider Bequipment 118, an administrator or technician at the co-location center102 may connect a physical jumper or other connection 128 between thecarrier network A equipment 112 and cloud provider B equipment 118within the co-location center 102. Interconnections between other sitesconnected to the co-location center 102 may occur in a similar manner.For example, cloud provider B site 110 may also connect to carriernetwork B site 106 via cross connect 130. Within co-location center 102,the various sites or ingress points to network carriers and cloudenvironments may be interconnected.

Although the co-location center 102 provides interconnectionpossibilities between participant sites connected to the co-locationcenter, such interconnection may be costly for administrators of theparticipant sites. For example, co-location centers 102 often chargelarge fees to locate equipment within the co-location center, fees for atechnician to perform a requested cross connect between co-locatedequipment, fees for terminating fiber cables within the center 102, etc.Further, carrier and cloud provider administrators often have no controlover the geographic location of the co-location center 102 such thatcorresponding client sites 104-110 may, in some instances, need to bebuilt geographically near the co-location center 102 for connection ofthe client sites 104-110 to the corresponding client equipment withinthe co-location center. Further, locating a client site 104-110 near theco-location center 102 may require building a chain of multiple sites toconnect a network, such as carrier network A or carrier network B, tothe co-location center 102. As should be appreciated, the costs toestablish and maintain a connection to the co-location center 102 may beburdensome to carriers and/or cloud provider networks.

In response to these and other issues, FIG. 2 illustrates an alternativenetwork operating environment 200 that provides for dynamicallyinterconnecting two or more sites 204-210 utilizing an optical peeringfabric switching device 204 in accordance with one embodiment thatremoves the need for a co-location center 102 from the connection path.As explained in more detail below, the network environment 200 utilizesa network-based center 202 to interconnect wavelengths or other signalsbetween client sites connected to a configurable optical switchingelement 203 of the network. The network environment 200 removes arequirement for locating network equipment within a co-location center102 to interconnect networks such that client sites may retain networkand data equipment within their corresponding client sites and connectdirectly to the network 202 for interconnecting to other client sites.The network environment 200 also removes a requirement for locatingnetwork equipment within a co-location center 102 to interconnectnetworks such that client sites may retain network and data equipmentwithin their corresponding client sites and connect directly to thenetwork 202 for interconnecting to other client sites. Further, thenetwork operating environment 200 automates the cross connecting of theclient sites based on a request, reducing the time to cross connect thesites and increasing the flexibility of the connections established viaa network 202.

The network environment 200 of FIG. 2 includes two or more client orparticipant sites 204-210 connected to a data network 202. The datanetwork 202 may be any type of interconnected devices that transmit andreceive communication or data packets, such as a telecommunicationsnetwork. In one example, a carrier network A site 204, a carrier networkB site 206, a cloud provider A site 208, and a cloud provider B site 210may be connected to the network 202 via one or more gateway devices onthe edge of the data network 202. More or fewer networking or data sitesmay be connected to the network 202, including sites associated withcontent provider networks, access networks, additional cloud computingnetworks, additional carrier networks, and the like. Although shown asseparate client sites 204-210, the carrier networks and the cloudprovider networks (among other networks) may share a client site suchthat networking equipment for the various networks may be included in asite. Further, in one instance, each client site 204-210 may connect tothe network 202 via one or more fiber cable connections. For example,carrier network A site 204 may connect to network 202 via fiber cableconnection 220, carrier network B site 206 may connect to network 202via fiber cable connection 222, cloud provider A site 210 may connect tonetwork 202 via fiber cable connection 224, and cloud provider B site212 may connect to network 202 via fiber cable connection 226. Fiberconnections 220-226 may include, in some instances, dark fiber thatconnects the client sites 204-210 to the network 202 but does notcurrently carry data traffic prior to connecting to another client siteor activation of the fiber transmission line. The fiber connections220-226 may include multiple fibers to support various bandwidthrequests for connectivity between the sites. For example, the fiberconnections 220-226 may support 400 Gbps of bandwidth or four 100 Gbpsincrements of bandwidth based upon the prevailing technology andequipment supporting the participant sites. In this manner, each fiberconnection 220-226 may be sized appropriately to the connected clientsite 204-210 to provide a desired bandwidth for the site.

Each of the fiber connections 220-226 may connect network or dataequipment 212-218 at a respective client site 204-210 to a configurableoptical switching element 203 of the network 202. Although shown asconnecting directly, any number of routing or other networking devicesmay be within the transmission path between the client sites 204-210 andthe switching element 203 of the data network 202. For example, one ormore gateway or other network edge devices may be used to connect theclient sites 204-210 with the switching element 203. The client sites204-210 of the network environment 200 may communicate or otherwiseexchange traffic or data via the switching element 203 once a connectionof one or more signals or wavelengths connecting those sites isestablished in the switching element 203. In some instances, theswitching element 203 and the client sites 204-210 may be located withinthe same metro or other geographic area, as is discussed in more detailbelow. Further, the network 202 may include any number of such switchingelements 204, either within the same metro or in other metros supportedby the network 202, to support the interconnection of client sites. Thenumber of switching elements 203 within the data network 202 may bebased on capacity of the elements (e.g., the number of communicationports for each switching element 203) and/or the number of client sites204-210 to be interconnected. The single switching element 203illustrated in FIG. 2 and the four client sites 204-210 connected tosaid switching element is shown here merely for illustrative purposesonly and more such switching elements and client sites may be connectedvia the data network 202.

Through the connection to the switching element 203 of the network 202,the networks associated with the client sites 204-210 do not need toinstall and connect to additional equipment within the network 202, asis needed for connection to a co-location center 102 discussed above.Rather, the client sites 204-210 may be connected to the network 202through a gateway site or other ingress devices into the network suchthat the networking or data equipment 212-218 utilized by thecorresponding client sites 204-210 to connect to the network 202 may beretained within the respective client sites 204-210 themselves. Forexample, carrier network A may manage carrier network A site 204 and maylocate networking or data equipment 212 associated with the carriernetwork A at the client site 204. The carrier network A site equipment212 may terminate the fiber cable 220 connected to the switching element203 of the network 202 and disperse traffic received over the fibercable 220 to other components within carrier network A via the equipment212. Similarly, other client sites (such as cloud provider A site 208)may include equipment 216 to terminate the respective fiber cables 224to the network 202 and route traffic onto or received from the fibercable 224 to other devices or locations within the corresponding cloudprovider A network. Through the network environment 200 of FIG. 2 , eachof the networks connected via a client site 204-210 to network 202 maynot be required to locate network equipment at both ends of theconnecting fiber 220-226 as in co-location centers 102. Rather, eachnetwork may maintain their equipment 212-218 at their respective clientsites 204-210 for communicating with the network 202 and for receivingtraffic from the network. This provides additional security to theoperation of the equipment 212-218 as control over the equipment may bemaintained by the respective networks. Further, as the need forterminating equipment is reduced, the cost for connecting each connectedclient network to the data network 202 is also reduced.

As mentioned above, the switching element 203 may be configurable tointerconnect wavelengths received via the fiber cables 220-226 from theconnected client sites 204-210. In one instance, the switching element203 may be a reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM)networking device, although other optical fabric switching devices arealso contemplated. In general, the switching element 203 connectswavelengths or other signals received at an input (in some instancesreferred to as a “degree”) to an output (also referred to as a “degree”)based on one or more configuration signals received at the switchingelement 203. For example, the switching element 203 may connect fibercable 222 from carrier network B site 206 to fiber cable 224 from cloudprovider A site 208. The switching element 203 may include multipleinterfaces or degrees that may be connected to any other interface ordegree. For example, a twelve degree switching element 203 may connecttwelve separate interfaces or degrees for exchanging of traffic overmultiple signals or wavelengths between the connected interfaces. Inthis manner, the client sites 204-210 of the network environment 200 maycommunicate or otherwise exchange traffic or data via the switchingelement 203 once a connection of one or more signals or wavelengthsconnecting those sites is established in the switching element 203.

In one instance, the switching element 203 may service a metro such thatinterconnection between client sites within the metro may be providingvia the switching element. Further, the connectivity provided by theswitching element 203 may accommodate a dynamically controllableconnection with a certain bandwidth granularity for each connection,such as in 100 Gigabytes per second (Gbps) increments. Further, aswitching element 203 servicing a metro or other area of the datanetwork 202 may provide connectivity for every pair of the metro clientsites connected to the switching element 203. For example, the switchingelement 203 may provide connectivity from carrier network A site 204 tocarrier network B site 206, carrier network A site 204 to cloud providerA site 208, carrier network A site 204 to cloud provider B site 210,carrier network B site 206 to cloud provider A site 208, carrier networkB site 206 to cloud provider B site 210, and cloud provider A site 208to cloud provider B site 210. Each cross connection between the clientsites 204-210 may be dynamically made in groups of 100 Gbps incrementsor any other bandwidth increment.

In still other instances, an orchestrator system or device 206 may be incommunication with the switching element 203 to control or configure theconnections of the degrees of the switching element. As explained inmore detail below, the orchestrator 206 may receive a request to connecttwo client sites 204-210 via the switching element 203 and, uponauthentication and authorization of the connection request, communicatewith the switching element 203 to instantiate the requested connection.Once the switching element 203 is configured based on the connectionrequest, the two client sites may communicate via the network 202without utilizing a co-location center 102 to connect the networks. Theoperations of the orchestrator 206 of the network environment 200 aredescribed in more detail below with reference to the systems and methodsof FIGS. 3 and 4 . One particular example of an orchestrator 206 isdisclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 62/948,706, the entirety ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for allpurposes.

More particularly, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system300 for controlling dynamic interconnection between two or moreparticipant sites 314,316 utilizing an optical peering fabric switchingdevice 310 in accordance with one embodiment. Many of the components ofthe system 300 of FIG. 3 are similar to components discussed above withrelation to the network environment 200 of FIG. 2 . For example, thesystem 300 may include a telecommunications or data network 312including a switching element 310, such as a ROADM or other opticalswitching device. A first client or participant site 314 and a secondclient or participant site 316 may be connected to the switching element310 via the network 312. The switching element 310 may, in someinstances, be configurable to provide a connection between participant Asite 314 and participant B site 316 in response to one or moreconfiguration instructions or commands. In one example, a masterorchestrator 306 may initiate the one or more configuration commandsbased on a request received at the master orchestrator 306 to connectthe participant sites 314,316. Additional components of the system 300may also be included, such as a participant A computing device 302associated with an administrator of a first network associated with theparticipant A site 314, a participant B computing device 304 associatedwith an administrator of a second network associated with theparticipant B site 316, and a domain orchestrator 308 for communicatingwith the configurable switching element 310. In one particular example,participant A computing device 302 may be associated with a carriernetwork and participant B computing device 304 may be associated with acloud provider network, although other types of networks and networksites are contemplated.

To connect participant A site 314 to participant B site 316, participantA computing device 302 may generate and transmit a request 320 for theconnection to the master orchestrator 306. In particular, theparticipant A computing device 302 may access an application programminginterface (API) or interface portal associated with master orchestrator306 to provide the connection request 320. The API may, in someinstances, be a REST-based API. The participant A computing device 302may generate the request 320 based on inputs received at the computingdevice from an administrator or other controller of the networkassociated with the participant A computing device 302 and/orparticipant A site 314. In another example, the connection request 320may be generated automatically based on network performance, a networkconfiguration plan, an instruction received from a networkingprovisioning system, and the like. Based on the inputs received at thecomputing device 302 from the network administration or provisioningsystem, the connection request 320 may be generated. The request 320 mayinclude an identification of the two sites 314,316 to be connected, anidentification of the requesting party or network, an identification ofa geographical location of the two sites and/or the switching element310, and the like.

Upon receipt of the connection request 320, the master orchestrator 306may authenticate and/or authorize 322 the request. In particular, FIG. 4is a flowchart of a method 400 for configuring an optical switchingelement 310 of a network 312 in response to request to connect twoparticipant sites 314,316 connected to the network in accordance withone embodiment. In one example, the operations of the method 400 may beperformed by the master orchestrator 306 illustrated in FIG. 3 . Inother instances, one or more of the operations of the method 400 may beperformed by other components of the system 300 of FIG. 3 , such asdomain orchestrator and/or switching element 310. The operations of themethod 400 may be performed using software programs, hardwarecomponents, or a combination of hardware and software.

Beginning in operation 402, the orchestrator 306 may receive a requestto connect two participant sites 314,316 from a computing device, suchas from participant A computing device 302. The request 320 may take theform discussed above and include identification of a first participantsite 314, a second participant site 316, a requesting party orrequesting computing device 320, a geographic location of the sites314,316 to be connected, and the like. In response to receiving theconnection request 320, the orchestrator 306 may, in operation 404,determine if the requesting party or computing device 302 is authorizedto request the connection between the sites 314,316. In particular, theorchestrator 306 may determine if participant A (and more particularly,participant A site 314) is connected to the network 312 in the market orarea indicated in the request. If participant A site 314 is notconnected to the network 312 in the indicated location, a connection toparticipant B site 316 may not be instantiated in switching element 310as no participant A site is available to connect via switching elementto participant A site. Further, the orchestrator 306 may determine anidentity of the party providing the request, such as participant Acomputing device 302, to determine if the requestor is validlyassociated with the participant A network and authorized to request theconnection between the sites. In one example, the participant Acomputing device 302 may provide one or more credentials to orchestrator306 for authorization along with the request for the connection.Orchestrator 306 may, in turn, compare the received credentialinformation to a database of client identifiers/permissions to verifythe identity of the requesting device 302 and to determineauthorizations associated with the identified party for requesting aconnection. If the participant A computing device 302 is not authorizedto request the connection as identified in the request, the orchestrator306 may return a denial of the connection request to the participant Acomputing device 302 in operation 406 and terminate the interconnectionprocess.

If the orchestrator 306 verifies participant A computing device 302 asauthorized to request the connection, the orchestrator 306 mayauthenticate the request in operation 408 by verifying the connectionrequest can be implemented. For example, the orchestrator 306 maydetermine participant B site 316 is connected to switching element 310in the indicated location or market of the request. Further, theorchestrator 306 may determine a fiber connection between participant Asite 314 and the switching element 310 and participant B site 316 andthe switching element. In one example, the connection request 320 mayinclude a requested bandwidth for the connection between the sites314,316. In such circumstances, the orchestrator 306 may verify thefiber connections to the sites 314,316 can support the requestedbandwidth of the connection request 320. The orchestrator 306 may alsoverify other aspects of the requested connection to ensure the sites314,316 may utilize the switching element 310 of the network 312 toexchange data and traffic.

If the requested connection cannot be authenticated in operation 408,the orchestrator 306 may return a denial of the connection request tothe participant A computing device 302 in operation 406. Otherwise, theorchestrator 306 may transmit the request to participant B computingdevice 304 for verification in operation 410. In some instances, theorchestrator 306 may generate and transmit a notification of theconnection request that includes some of the information included in thereceived connection request. Returning to the system 300 of FIG. 3 , themaster orchestrator 306 transmits the notification to the participant Bcomputing device 304. Upon receiving the notification, the participant Bcomputing device 304 may authorize the connection based on theinformation included in the notification. For example, the participant Bcomputing device 304 may verify participant B site 316 is connected tothe same switching element 310 as participant A site 314 or connected toa switching element in the same location as indicated in the request.Participant B computing device 304 may also verify the fiber cablesconnecting participant B site 316 to the network 312 satisfy therequested bandwidth for the connection. For example, some bandwidthrequests may require more than a single fiber connection. Thus,participant B computing device 304 (and/or the master orchestrator 306)may verify the presence of enough fiber connections between theswitching element 310 and the participating sites at issue in therequest to support the requested bandwidth. Participant B computingdevice 304 may also verify participant A computing device 302 isauthorized to request the connection to participant B site 316 viaswitching element 310. Upon authentication and/or authorization,participant B computing device 304 may return the authorization to themaster orchestrator 306.

In some instances, the orchestrator 306 may not verify the connectionrequest with the participant B computing device 304. Rather, theorchestrator 306 may include permissions provided by one or moreparticipant sites 314,316 connected to the network 312 such that theorchestrator 306 may verify, authorize, and/or authenticate connectionrequests received from a requesting party or device.

The orchestrator 306 may, in operation 412 of the method 400 of FIG. 4 ,determine if the connection request is verified and authorized. Ifparticipant B computing device 304 does not verify or authorize therequested connection or if the permissions maintained by theorchestrator indicate the request is not authorized, the orchestrator306 may transmit a denial to the request to the participant A computingdevice 302 in operation 406. If participant B computing device 304 orthe orchestrator 306 verifies the requested connection, the orchestratormay, in operation 414, generate and transmit an activation signal forthe configurable switching element 310 to provision the switchingelement to connect the degree or interface of the element associatedwith participant A site 314 and the degree or interface of the elementassociated with participant B site 316. The activation signal mayinclude any number of transmissions, instructions, commands, and thelike for processing and executing by the switching element 310 or aprovisioning system associated with the network 312. For example and asshown in FIG. 3 , the activation signal may be transmitted to a domainorchestrator 308 by the master orchestrator 306. The domain orchestrator308 may be in communication with the switching element 310 (among othernetwork devices) and may provide configuration instructions or commandsto the switching element 310. The domain orchestrator 308 in thisexample may receive the activation signal from the master orchestrator306 and, in response, generate and transmit a connection configurationsignal to the switching element 310. In one instance, the masterorchestrator 306 may provide information associated with connectionrequest 320, such as an identification of the participant sites 314,316to be connected. The domain orchestrator 308 may access networkconfiguration information from one or more databases to identify theinterfaces or degrees of the switching element 310 associated with theparticipant sites 314,316. With the network configuration information,the domain orchestrator 308 may instruct the switching element 310 toconnect the interfaces or degrees of the switching element associatedwith the sites 314,316 to connect the sites. In this manner, the system300 of FIG. 3 may dynamically interconnect sites 314,316 via theswitching element 310 in response to a request received at theorchestrator 306 from a computing device associated with a network. Thisconnection may occur without physically connecting equipment associatedwith the connected sites 314,316 and without utilizing a co-locationcenter. Rather, the connection may occur within network 312.

In some instances, the switching element 310 may provide operationalstatus information of the configuration of the switching element, suchas which interfaces are interconnected within the switching element 310.For example, switching element 310 may provide, to the domainorchestrator 308 or the master orchestrator 306, a verification signalof the configured connection in response to the activation signal. Inanother example, the domain orchestrator 308 may receive theverification signal of the connection from the switching element 310 andprovide an additional or the same verification signal to the masterorchestrator 306. Regardless of the configuration of the system 300, themaster orchestrator 306 may determine if a verification signal for therequested connection is received from the switching element 310. If theverification signal is not received, the orchestrator 306 may provide toparticipant A computing device 302 a denial of the connection request inoperation 406. If the verification of the activation of the connectionis received, the orchestrator 306 may monitor the status of theconnection in operation 418. For example, similar to the verificationsignal, the switching element 310 may provide a monitoring signal to thedomain orchestrator 308 or the master orchestrator 306. The monitoringsignal may indicate to the orchestrator an operational status of theconnection for reporting to the participant A computing device 302and/or the participant B computing device 304, or any other device incommunication with the orchestrator 306. The method 400 and system 300described above may therefore provide for a dynamically interconnectingwavelengths among participants between one or more sites connected to aconfigurable switching element.

FIG. 5 is a diagram 500 illustrating a network geographic area 502 fordynamically interconnecting two or more participant sites 506 utilizingan optical switching device 504 in accordance with one embodiment. Asdiscussed above, many participant sites 506 may connect to the switchingelement 504 depending on the number of degrees or interfaces of theswitching element 504. For example, the diagram 500 of FIG. 5illustrates six participant sites 506 connected to the switching element504 for connecting between the sites. The switching element 504 ornetwork hosting the switching element may also be configured to providethe connection service to a particular geographic area 502. In someinstances, the geographic area 502 serviced by switching element 504 maybe based on an acceptable loss in the fiber connections 508 connectingthe participant sites 506 and the switching element 504. For example,the network 202 and/or participant sites 506 may establish an acceptableline loss for the fiber cable bundles 508 connecting the participantsites 506 with the switching element 504. The acceptable line loss maydetermine a maximum distance 510 of fiber connections to the switchingelement 504 by the participant sites 506. In other words, participantsites 506 within the acceptable line loss distance 510 may be connectedto the switching element 504 to receive dynamic connection services fromthe network 202. In this manner, the geographical area supported by theswitching element 504 may be based on an acceptable line loss within thefiber connections 508 between the participant sites 506 and theswitching element 504. In some instances, however, a fiber connection508 connecting the switching element 504 and a participant site 506 maynot be a straight line but may include angled portions that increase thelength of the fiber connections. As such, the maximum distance 510 forconnecting to the switching element 504 may include the total distanceof the connecting fiber 508 along the entire length of the connection.Regardless of the form of the fiber connection 508, an acceptabletransmission line loss of the fiber connector 508 may be utilized todetermine a service area for providing the dynamic connection service tothe participating sites 506.

The allowable fiber distance for acceptable loss 510 may also be basedon a requested bandwidth for the communication between the participantsites. For example, the acceptable loss for a 400 Gbps bandwidth signalmay be N dB, where N represents a negative number, such that thedistance 510 from the switching element 504 to the outer edge of theservice area 502 may be defined by the loss within a fiber cable 508 atdistance x 502 for a 400 Gbps bandwidth signal. Other bandwidths maydefine other acceptable losses such that the distance x 510 may vary.For example, a 600 Gbps bandwidth signal may have an acceptable loss ofN[x] to N[y] dB and a 800 Gbps bandwidth signal may have an acceptableloss of N[t] to N[v] dB, where x,t represents the lower bound number y,vrepresents the upper bound number in each applicable range. Each of theacceptable losses may define a distance 510 for the service area 502 ofthe switching element. Further still, fiber technology may also affectthe distance of acceptable loss 510. In particular, as fibertransmission technology improves, the service area 502 for the switchingelement 504 may increase as less signal loss is experienced in the fibercables 508. In this manner, a service area 502 for providing dynamicinterconnecting between participant sites 506 may be based on anacceptable line loss in fiber cable technology to ensure that eachparticipant site 506 is within the acceptable loss distance 510. Incontrast, co-location centers 102 typically require participant sites506 to be located near the co-location center and locate transmissionequipment within the co-location center 102 for interconnecting otherparticipant sites 506.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing deviceor computer system 600 which may be used in implementing the embodimentsof the components of the network disclosed above. For example, thecomputing system 600 of FIG. 6 may be the orchestrator 306 discussedabove. The computer system (system) includes one or more processors602-606. Processors 602-606 may include one or more internal levels ofcache (not shown) and a bus controller or bus interface unit to directinteraction with the processor bus 612. Processor bus 612, also known asthe host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couple the processors602-606 with the system interface 614. System interface 614 may beconnected to the processor bus 612 to interface other components of thesystem 600 with the processor bus 612. For example, system interface 614may include a memory controller 614 for interfacing a main memory 616with the processor bus 612. The main memory 616 typically includes oneor more memory cards and a control circuit (not shown). System interface614 may also include an input/output (I/O) interface 620 to interfaceone or more I/O bridges or I/O devices with the processor bus 612. Oneor more I/O controllers and/or I/O devices may be connected with the I/Obus 626, such as I/O controller 628 and I/O device 630, as illustrated.

I/O device 630 may also include an input device (not shown), such as analphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys forcommunicating information and/or command selections to the processors602-606. Another type of user input device includes cursor control, suchas a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to the processors 602-606and for controlling cursor movement on the display device.

System 600 may include a dynamic storage device, referred to as mainmemory 616, or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readabledevices coupled to the processor bus 612 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processors 602-606. Main memory 616also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processors 602-606.System 600 may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other staticstorage device coupled to the processor bus 612 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processors 602-606. The system setforth in FIG. 6 is but one possible example of a computer system thatmay employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed bycomputer system 600 in response to processor 604 executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 616.These instructions may be read into main memory 616 from anothermachine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 616 may causeprocessors 602-606 to perform the process steps described herein. Inalternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may include both hardware and software components.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processingapplication) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Such media maytake the form of, but is not limited to, non-volatile media and volatilemedia and may include removable data storage media, non-removable datastorage media, and/or external storage devices made available via awired or wireless network architecture with such computer programproducts, including one or more database management products, web serverproducts, application server products, and/or other additional softwarecomponents. Examples of removable data storage media include CompactDisc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Disc Read-Only Memory(DVD-ROM), magneto-optical disks, flash drives, and the like. Examplesof non-removable data storage media include internal magnetic harddisks, SSDs, and the like. The one or more memory devices 606 mayinclude volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM),static random access memory (SRAM), etc.) and/or non-volatile memory(e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.).

Computer program products containing mechanisms to effectuate thesystems and methods in accordance with the presently describedtechnology may reside in main memory 616, which may be referred to asmachine-readable media. It will be appreciated that machine-readablemedia may include any tangible non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring or encoding instructions to perform any one or more of theoperations of the present disclosure for execution by a machine or thatis capable of storing or encoding data structures and/or modulesutilized by or associated with such instructions. Machine-readable mediamay include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storethe one or more executable instructions or data structures.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which aredescribed in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardwarecomponents or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, whichmay be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processorprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively,the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/orfirmware.

Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplaryembodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer toparticular features, the scope of this invention also includesembodiments having different combinations of features and embodimentsthat do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, thescope of the present invention is intended to embrace all suchalternatives, modifications, and variations together with allequivalents thereof.

We claim:
 1. A system for managing a network, the system comprising: acomputing device associated with a first participant network siteconnected to a network; a master orchestrator receiving, from thecomputing device, a request for a connection of the first participantnetwork site with a second participant network site, the masterorchestrator to: authenticate one or more portions of the request forthe connection; transmit, to a computing device associated with thesecond participant network site and based on the authenticated one ormore portions of the request, an authorization request; and receive,from the computing device associated with the second participant networksite, an authorization for executing the request for the connection; anda domain orchestrator: receiving, from the master orchestrator, anactivation instruction in response to the authorization, the domainorchestrator configuring an optical switching element to opticallyconnect a first interface of the optical switching element connected tothe first participant network site to a second interface of the opticalswitching element connected to the second participant network site;receiving, from the optical switching element, a notification of theconnection of the first interface to the second interface; andtransmitting, to the master orchestrator, the notification for furthernotification of the connection to the first participant network site andthe second participant network site.
 2. The system of claim 1 whereinthe request for the connection is received via a portal.
 3. The systemof claim 1 wherein the request for the connection is received via anapplication programming interface.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein thefirst participant network site is connected to the first interface ofthe optical switching element via a first dark fiber cable and thesecond participant network site is connected to the second interface ofthe optical switching element via a second dark fiber cable.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4 wherein a length of the first dark fiber cable and thesecond dark fiber cable is less than a maximum distance length of anoptical fiber based on an acceptable transmission line loss of theoptical fiber.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the optical switchingelement is a reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer network device.7. The system of claim 1 wherein the request for the connectioncomprises an identification of the first participant network site, anidentification of the second participant network site, and anidentification of an optical switching element for the connection andwherein the master orchestrator further authenticates at least one ofthe identification of the first participant network site, theidentification of the second participant network site, or theidentification of the optical switching element.
 8. The system of claim7 wherein the master orchestrator further authenticates the firstinterface of the optical switching element as connected to the firstparticipant network site and the second interface of the opticalswitching element as connected to the second participant network site.9. The system of claim 7 the system further comprising: a databasestoring identifiers of requesting devices and associated permissionlevels for each stored identifier of requesting devices.
 10. The systemof claim 9 wherein the request for the connection further comprises anidentifier of a requesting device, the master orchestrator communicatingwith the database to obtain, in response to the request for theconnection, the permission level associated with the identifier of therequesting device.
 11. A method for managing a network, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a computing device associated with a firstparticipant network site connected to a network, a request for aconnection of the first participant network site with a secondparticipant network site; authenticating one or more portions of therequest for the connection; transmitting, to a computing deviceassociated with the second participant network site and based on theauthenticated one or more portions of the request, an authorizationrequest; receiving, from the computing device associated with the secondparticipant network site, an authorization for executing the request forthe connection; transmitting, to a domain orchestrator and in responseto the authorization, an activation instruction, the domain orchestratorconfiguring an optical switching element to optically connect a firstinterface of the optical switching element connected to the firstparticipant network site to a second interface of the optical switchingelement connected to the second participant network site; receiving, bythe domain orchestrator and from the optical switching element, anotification of the connection of the first interface to the secondinterface; and transmitting, by the domain orchestrator, thenotification for further notification of the connection to the firstparticipant network site and the second participant network site. 12.The method of claim 11 wherein the first participant network site isconnected to the first interface of the optical switching element via afirst dark fiber cable and the second participant network site isconnected to the second interface of the optical switching element via asecond dark fiber cable.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein a length ofthe first dark fiber cable and the second dark fiber cable is less thana maximum distance length of an optical fiber based on an acceptabletransmission line loss of the optical fiber.
 14. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program, whereinthe computer program, when executed by a processor, causes the processorto perform a method comprising: receiving, from a computing deviceassociated with a first participant network site connected to a network,a request for a connection of the first participant network site with asecond participant network site; authenticating one or more portions ofthe request for the connection; transmitting, to a computing deviceassociated with the second participant network site and based on theauthenticated one or more portions of the request, an authorizationrequest; receiving, from the computing device associated with the secondparticipant network site, an authorization for executing the request forthe connection; transmitting, to a domain orchestrator and in responseto the authorization, an activation instruction, the domain orchestratorconfiguring an optical switching element to optically connect a firstinterface of the optical switching element connected to the firstparticipant network site to a second interface of the optical switchingelement connected to the second participant network site; receiving, bythe domain orchestrator and from the optical switching element, anotification of the connection of the first interface to the secondinterface; and transmitting, by the domain orchestrator, thenotification for further notification of the connection to the firstparticipant network site and the second participant network site. 15.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 whereinthe first participant network site is connected to the first interfaceof the optical switching element via a first dark fiber cable and thesecond participant network site is connected to the second interface ofthe optical switching element via a second dark fiber cable.